BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//wp-events-plugin.com//7.4.12//EN TZID:America/New_York X-WR-TIMEZONE:America/New_York BEGIN:VEVENT UID:2@researchweek.unc.edu DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20261022T150000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20261022T163000 DTSTAMP:20261012T142551Z URL:https://researchweek.unc.edu/events/pare-awards-2026/ SUMMARY:PARE Awards Ceremony DESCRIPTION:Join us as we celebrate the recipients of the 2026 Postdoctoral Awards for Research Excellence (PARE). This ceremony recognizes five outs tanding UNC-Chapel Hill postdoctoral scholars whose exceptional achievemen ts in research\, leadership\, mentoring\, teaching\, advocacy\, and servic e have made a significant impact on the University and the broader researc h community.\n\nThis is an in-person event.\n\nClick Here to Register\n\n2 026 PARE Winners:\nAthena Stein\, Department of Psychiatry\, School of Med icine \;\n\n\n\n“My research is redefining how brain stimulation is designed. Rather than imposing generic\, synthetic waveforms conventionall y used\, I develop personalized neurostimulation interventions using an in dividual’s actual (endogenous) brain activity. I invented transcranial e ndogenous current stimulation and am currently testing its neurophysiologi cal mechanisms and preliminary efficacy in a clinical trial in antenatal d epression. At the same time\, I am translating this framework into other b rain stimulation modalities such as transcranial magnetic stimulation. My long-term goal is to understand the brain biomarkers underlying neurostimu lation response in depression and other psychiatric disorders\, and to est ablish endogenous neurostimulation as a new precision-treatment paradigm f or these disorders.” \;\n\n\n\nEvan Paules\, Nutrition Research Inst itute \;\n\n\n\n“I am focused on advancing precision nutrition. Diet s and weight-loss drugs work well for some people and barely at all for ot hers\, and we cannot currently tell in advance who will not benefit from a given therapy. I study how the nutrients we eat\, particularly choline\, shape metabolic health\, and I build metabolic profiles that identify whet her a given treatment will work for someone. My goal is to turn nutrient s tatus into a simple test that tells clinicians which treatment will help a patient\, and to determine whether repleting certain nutrients can move p eople who do not benefit into the group that does.” \;\n\n\n\nGrigor y Terlov\, Department of Statistics and Operations Research\, College of A rts and Sciences \;\n\n\n\n“My research lies in probability theory a nd its connections with other branches of mathematics and applied sciences . This work has two main threads: quantitative limit theorems\, typically via Stein’s method\, in random graph models and random optimization prob lems\; and percolation on transitive graphs\, especially in relation to me asured group theory and measurable combinatorics. A common thread througho ut my work is understanding how geometric and structural notions interact with randomness.” \; \;\n\n\n\nHyunji (Amy) Lee\, Department of Computer Science\, College of Arts and Sciences \;\n\n\n\n“My resear ch aims to build AI systems that can keep learning and adapting after they are deployed\, rather than remaining fixed as the world\, their users\, a nd available information change. I study and develop how these systems can learn from real-world deployment by collecting and filtering experience i nto useful training and evaluation data\, methods that help models recogni ze what they know and when to adapt\, and systems that coordinate knowledg e across models\, memories\, tools\, and other agents. Ultimately\, I want to create long-lived AI systems that remain useful\, reliable\, and coher ent as they learn from ongoing interactions and changing environments.”& nbsp\;\n\n\n\nKuan-Yi Lu\, Department of Microbiology and Immunology\, Sch ool of Medicine \;\n\n\n\n“Why do antibiotics sometimes fail\, even when drug concentrations far exceed the threshold normally required to cle ar an infection? My postdoctoral research at UNC-Chapel Hill has focused o n solving the fundamental challenge of the systematic failure of antibioti cs to eradicate infections within the body. Supported by a highly competit ive NIH K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award\, my research integrates bio logy\, chemical analysis\, and animal modeling to identify why bacteria to lerate antibiotics during infections.” \; ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://researchweek.unc.edu/wp-content/uploads/ 2026/08/010318_campus_scenes026.jpg CATEGORIES:In-person Event,Office of Postdoctoral Affairs,UNC Research LOCATION:Toy Lounge\, 135 South Road\, Chapel Hill\, NC\, 27516\, United St ates X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=135 South Road\, Chapel Hil l\, NC\, 27516\, United States;X-APPLE-RADIUS=100;X-TITLE=Toy Lounge:geo:0 ,0 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/New_York X-LIC-LOCATION:America/New_York BEGIN:DAYLIGHT DTSTART:20260308T030000 TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT END:DAYLIGHT END:VTIMEZONE END:VCALENDAR